After eliminating Mike Lafable in 5th place, Shaan Siddiqui has now taken over the chip lead of the final 4 players. The clock has been paused as they negotiate a potential deal.
Here are their current chip counts:
| First Name | Last Name | Seat | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shaan | Siddiqui | Seat 2 | 1,530,000 |
| Riyaz | Abdulla | Seat 7 | 1,157,000 |
| Todd | Pierce | Seat 3 | 340,000 |
| Viken | Artinian | Seat 4 | 273,000 |
Mike Lafable placed a raise to 55,000 from the button, and went heads-up to the flop versus Shaan Siddiqui in the big blind. They both checked the 
board, and once the 
turn fell, Shaan lead for 75,000. Mike pushed all-in, and found a quick call.
Shaan tabled 
for two pair, and only had a few straight and chop outs to dodge, as Mike had 
. The river 
actually improved Shaan’s hand, sending Mike home in 5th place.
5th place: Mike Lafable – $5,050.00
Mike Lafable
Nicolas Aubut’s 4th deep run in this TonyBet Winter Festival has just come to an end, as he was eliminated by chip leader Riyaz Abdulla.
Riyaz opened to 60,000 from early position, and was face with a 3bet all-in worth 123,000 from Nicolas. He made the quick call, and tabled his monster.
Riyaz: 
Nicolas: 
Nicolas picked up a flush draw on the 
board, however was not able to overcome his opponents pocket rockets.
6th place: Nicolas Aubut – $3,830.00
Nicolas Aubut
Two players have emerged as the dominant chip leaders on this final table of Event 10, as both Shaan Siddiqui and Riyaz Abdulla hold stacks upwards of 1-million, while the other 4 players fall below the 400,000 mark. With the blind levels going up to 12K/24K/a4K, we can expect to see some fireworks in the levels to come, as the pressure of the blinds will be taking a toll on the short stacks.
Here is a look at the chip counts entering level 24:
| First Name | Last Name | Seat | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riyaz | Abdulla | Seat 7 | 1,172,000 |
| Shaan | Siddiqui | Seat 2 | 1,084,000 |
| Mike | Lafable | Seat 6 | 386,000 |
| Viken | Artinian | Seat 4 | 283,000 |
| Nicolas | Aubut | Seat 8 | 239,000 |
| Todd | Pierce | Seat 3 | 136,000 |
Facing a utg open by Riyaz and a button all-in from Todd, Mike Lafable looked down at in the big blind, and moved his remaining 310,000 in. Riyaz got out of the way, and Todd, with the bigger stack, tabled 
.
Mike filled up with his AQ for the second time on this final table, as the board ran 
, crippling Todd to under 100,000 in the process.
There are 27 players left out of the 47 who began Event 12. There are still many players with similarly-sized stacks, except for the two leaders who have separated from the field.
Although action has been rather tame in the last few orbits, Shaan Siddiqui has quietly been chipping up, and now rivals Riyaz Abdulla for the chip lead.
Shaan won pots versus Mike Lafable and Riyaz to climb up to 950,000, and now sits second in chips, and is within 200,000 chips of table captain Riyaz.
Viken Artinian opened from early position to 50,000, and called a 3bet worth 115,000 from Riyaz in middle position. With only 97,000 behind, he moved all-in after the dealer rung out a 
flop, and Riyaz made the call.
Viken: 
Riyaz: 
The running 
and brought no change, and Viken successfully doubled up to stay in the running for the $15,370 first prize, putting a small dent in the current chip leader.
The second break is approaching in Event 11. Here are some photos of the players – there are 33 left of the 86 that started the tournament. The action is fast and intense in this tourney – anything can happen, any time!
Ali Jouni defended his big blind versus a button-open from Riyaz Abdulla, and both players went on to check the 
flop. Ali lead out for 45,000 on the 
turn, and Riyaz obliged. When the turn brought the , Ali opted to check, leaving the door open for Riyaz who fired 70,000. Ali quickly check-raised all-in for just north of 300,000, and found the call from his opponent.
Ali: 
Riyaz: 
Riyaz had the bigger of the two stacks, and added nearly 400,000 new chips to his stack with the rivered straight, propelling him over the 1-million mark and into the chip lead.
7th place: Ali Jouni – $2,900.00
